Gas company wanted widow seeking help on bill to pay $270 for deposit, reconnection fee

In December, the 89-year-old Hegewisch neighborhood resident went to her local community center and applied for assistance with her gas payments.

She expected quick approval. After all, she had received help in 2009, 2010 and 2011, and her financial situation was unchanged.

What Lenckos wasn't counting on was a change in the way the applications are processed.

She was told that, based on her income, she qualified yet again for assistance, but unlike previous years, she could no longer apply as the secondary account holder.

And that proved a problem.

Although her husband died in 1999, his name was never removed from the Peoples Gas account for the couple's house.

While Lenckos had faithfully paid the monthly bills for the past 14 years, she had done so under her late husband's name. Under new rules applied by the financial assistance agency, she could not qualify for aid unless she was listed as the primary account holder.

She was instructed to call the gas company and remove her late husband's name from the account.

The fix seemed simple.

Her son, Walter Lenckos, called the gas company and explained the situation. He was told that removing his dad's name from the account name was no problem — but it wouldn't be cheap.

Because his mother had no official history of payment, she was required to pay a $251 deposit and a $19 reconnection fee to become the primary account holder.

The younger Lenckos said he asked the Peoples representative to waive the deposit and fee — after all, he said, the whole reason for changing the account was so his mother could qualify for financial assistance to pay her heating bills.

"When I talked to the agent the other day, he was saying the supervisor was busy with another customer and he would call me back," Walter Lenckos said.

That was two weeks earlier.

"Well, I never got a call back from anyone," Walter Lenckos said. "Maybe the guy was having a bad day and didn't feel like helping."

Unable to persuade Peoples to change the names on the account for free, Walter Lenckos emailed What's Your Problem?

"I just can't imagine why this would be so difficult," he said. "She doesn't have a lot of money, so I wouldn't even know how to explain to her why she has to give a deposit and pay a reconnect fee. It doesn't even make sense to me."

Within hours, a gas company representative called Walter Lenckos, then removed the late husband's name from the account for free. The representative backdated the change to Dec. 11, when Danuta Lenckos' gas meter was last read.

In an email, Block said Peoples Gas is very sorry for any confusion the utility company caused.

She said that because Danuta Lenckos has a limited individual credit history, it is standard for Peoples to require a deposit and an activation fee to open a new account.

"Once we understood Mrs. Lenckos has been the sole account holder and bill payer for the past 14 years, and has an excellent payment record, we were able to waive the deposit and activation fee, and immediately produce a new account solely in her name," Block said.

Walter Lenckos said that to cut down on heating bills, his mom had been using electric space heaters, which worried him. This will allow her to remove those heaters and turn up the temperature on her thermostat, he said.

He plans to take her back to the community center when her latest bill arrives so she can reapply for assistance.

"She's gong to be pretty thrilled," he said. "She knows this is the heart of the heating season where her bills get pretty large."